Pope emerges from rest in Australia to join youth fest

Bishop's remark on sex abuse issue angers some.

Bishop's remark on sex abuse issue angers some.

July 17, 2008

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Pope Benedict XVI ended a short vacation with a visit from some of Australia's exotic animals then took up residence in a gothic cathedral on Wednesday to prepare for his debut in front of some 200,000 pilgrims at the Roman Catholic youth festival. The 81-year-old pontiff spent three days in near-seclusion at a retreat on Sydney's outskirts after making the longest journey of his three-year-old papacy to lead World Youth Day events designed to inspire a new generation of Roman Catholics. The pope was brought by motorcade Wednesday evening to the compound of St. Mary's Cathedral in the heart of the city where he will stay until leaving Australia. Benedict's first official event today will be to meet for talks with Australia's new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and other officials. He then will receive a ceremonial welcome from Australia's original inhabitants, the Aborigines, on the shores of Sydney Harbor before taking a boat ride past the city's landmark opera house to a former cargo wharf where he will deliver what is expected to be a significant address. The contents of the speech, to be made before a crowd organizers say will exceed 200,000, have not been revealed by the Vatican. Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, on Wednesday would not be pinned down on when the pope would speak about the sexual abuse scandal but suggested it may be Saturday. The pope's visit has triggered a fresh examination of the issue of the sexual abuse cases in Australia, a sour note to the festival that was made worse Wednesday when one of the key organizers, Bishop Anthony Fisher, said people should focus on the young pilgrims' goodness "rather than dwelling crankily, as a few people are doing, on old wounds." Victim support groups were angered by Fisher's remark. "The Catholic Church has a lot to learn about the burden of clergy abuse on the lives of victims," said Michael Salter of the group Advocates for Survivors of Child Abuse.